Paltel Group Announces Financial Results for the Period Ending 30th of September 2013, Net Profit Increased by 9.5% to Stand at US$ 96.8 Million

RAMALLAH, Palestine, November 12, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

2.2% growth in Net Revenues to reach US$ 397m (vs. Q3, 2012)

4.2% growth in Operating Income to reach US$ 129m (vs. Q3, 2012)

5.3% growth in EBITDA to reach US$ 175m (vs. Q3, 2012)

9.5% growth in Net Income to reach US$ 97m (vs. Q3, 2012)

9.5% growth in EPS to reach US$0.73 (vs. Q3, 2012)

7.3% growth in CAPEX to reach US$ 32m (vs. Q3, 2012)

2.3% growth in total number of subscribers (Fixed, Mobile, Data) (vs. End of year 2012)

Paltel Group, the telecommunications leader in Palestine providing mobile, fixed and data services announced its financial results for the period ending 30thSeptember 2013. The results showed an increase in net profit of 9.5% to reach US$ 96.8 million compared to a net profit of US$ 88.3 million for the same period of previous year. The earnings per share (EPS) marked an increase of 9.5% to stand at US$ 0.735 compared with US$ 0.671 for the same period of 2012.

The consolidated net operating revenues reached US$ 397.2 million compared with US$ 388.5 million in same period of 2012 reflecting an increase of 2.2% from the previous year. The gross profit, EBITDA and net profit margins achieved growth by 79.8%, 43.9% and 24.3 respectively. The company reported a decrease of US$ 4.8 million in investment losses to reach US$ 2.8 million compared to US$ 7.6 million during the same period of previous year, this decrease has contributed to the positive results of this year, furthermore it is expected that investment losses will shrink further in the future as the company is changing its strategy in terms of regional investments throughout Vtel the international investment arm of which Paltel owns 25.3% stakes.

Sabih Masri, Chairman of the Paltel Group Board of Directors, stated that Paltel Group financial results in the third quarter 2013 form an indicator of the Group's ability to grow in both financial and operational directions. This growth is a result of the Group's diversity of investments in Palestinian and regional markets according to a well-studied, revised strategy that guarantees rewarding results for the investors of PALTEL. Simultaneously, Paltel Group continued to invest in its telecom network in Palestine within a comprehensive development process of which economic development is an integral part. Such investment in the network aims at providing most recent services to Palestinians to help them shape their economic, social and cultural future. On the other hand, such investment will result in rewarding returns to investors in parallel with the Group's regional investments which started to positively influence the Groups' financial performance.

Ammar Aker, CEO of Paltel Group, stated that the Group maintained growth, provision of modern services and commitment to social responsibility in spite of the existing economic and social difficulties in the region. "The Group continued to give distinguished offers to subscribers that meet their expectations in the light of technology development, which resulted in sustainable growth though the 3G and 4G frequencies are still banned by Israeli authorities" Aker added.

Aker pointed that Palestine shows a huge demand on technology and applications, and this is where the Group sees the opportunity to meet this demand especially in youth sector which represents more than 40% of the population, in addition to the education and community sectors that are yet in the development phase. Therefore, the Group intensified its projects to support technology applications in these key sectors. On the other hand the Group continues to support public and NGO sectors to reach marginalized and underserved communities who need urgent support in different development fields, Aker concluded.

Operating Performance

The total subscriber base of Group companies grew by 2.3% in the first three quarters of 2013 to reach 3.23 million subscribers. This growth in subscriber base covered subscribers in fixed, mobile and data services sectors.

The number of fixed line subscribers grew from 396 thousand at the end of 2012 to 401 thousand at the end of third quarter 2013 reflecting a 1.2% growth. The ARPU for fixed line users grew by 1.0% to reach US$ 19.3 compared with US$ 19.2 at the end of 2012.

The number of ADSL subscribers grew from 185 thousand at the end of 2012 to 208 thousand at the end of third quarter 2013 reflecting a 12.0% growth. The ARPU for ADSL line users grew by 4.3% to reach US$ 14.2 compared with US$ 13.7 at the end of 2012.

The number of mobile line subscribers grew from 2.59 million at the end of 2012 to 2.63 million at the end of third quarter 2013 reflecting a 1.7% growth. The ARPU in mobile line users decreased by 3.5% to reach US$ 12.6 compared to US$ 13.0 at the end of 2012.

Future Outlook

The company is maintaining a stable growth in both operational and investment activities in Palestine and the region. Based on this stability, the company will continue to search for new opportunities and potential through more investments in the telecoms network in Palestine and will continue to widen its regional investments in order to achieve rewarding results for investors and make their investments profitable and sustainable.